844 The Skatalites “Guns of Navarrone” 1965

“The Skatalites’ sound was born in Kingston, Jamaica, where several of the original members graduated from the Alpha Boys School, a prestigious arts and trade academy, in the 1940s.” Drummer Lloyd Knibb converted the African rhythms of hand drums “onto a trap set, playing all three drum parts at the same time. He took the sound into the studio and with boogie-woogie melodies laid on top of the nyabinghi beats, ska was born. Suddenly the city’s top vocalists were clamoring to record over the ska beats. Knibb and company found themselves backing a who’s who of soon-to-be Jamaican legends” (Sengupta Stith, Austin American-Statesman, 16 April 2015). 

The Skatalites “Guns of Navarrone”